Favorite German Hefe-Weiss

G.schneider, weihenstephaner, Ayinger, are the Germans who make the World's best hefeweissbiers, dunkelweiss, weizenbocks. Paulaner make a few good brews but when it comes to German wheat, I wouldn't ever stray from these guys. And all are very affordable here at home

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I think if you look at the winners every year of the World Beer Cup and the European Beer Star, none of these companies make the list except for Schneider Weisse.

Ah, decisions, decisions. Die Qual der Wahl you might say. Having spent considerable time in Germany, Bavaria especially it is hard to choose. Ayinger's is well crafted, with subtle flavor. Franziskaner is very banana like but rounded out with clove and yeast flavors. Weihenstephaner, while actually known more for their bread and butter products than beer is extraordinary. Hacker-Pschoor is quite good as well. You can't lose.

Overall, I think I would say I prefer Franziskaner. The flavors are more complex, with banana, fresh bread, yeast, and clove is my choice. But again, you can't lose.

Proof? Until then, I'm not buying it. I have noticed no real difference and have been drinking Franzi for almost 30 years.

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Been loving Franzi for a looong time, long enough that when I started drinking it we called it 'Hanz and Franz inkiner' after the muscle man skit on SNL - how long since that skit came out? 25+ years ?

After 25 years of smacking my lips virtually every time I quaffed it, over the last few years every time I try it, my reaction is meh, it's ok, nothing beyond ordinary. Possibly my taste buds have changed, but I doubt it, InBev has a long history of monkeying with their brews, they even changed Bud! Using beechwood mulch instead of chips to save money. There's well documented reports of them changing Hogaarten, Celebrator etc etc - nothing's out of play for their portfolio of beers when it comes to saving money.

Proof? Until then, I'm not buying it. I have noticed no real difference and have been drinking Franzi for almost 30 years.

One thing that's been discussed here recently is that there has been new labeling on Spaten-Franziskaner beers and the shelf rotation has gotten better. Speculation is that drinkers are now getting fresher beers and they taste a little different to them.

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Well we know that Optimator changed (for the better imo - richer/darker) around the same time as the packaging changes since the abv changed from 7.2% to 7.6%. It is listed here in the database as 7.6%, but the bros. and other past reviews state 7.2%. IMO, lends credence that they possibly could have done the same with the hefeweizen - I didn't drink enough of it in the past to judge a change in flavor like Optimator.

Well we know that Optimator changed (for the better imo - richer/darker) around the same time as the packaging changes since the abv changed from 7.2% to 7.6%.

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We all know? Someone from the brewery contact us? .4% could have been a calculation mistake, not necessarily a recipe change -- it's minimal.

*The other thing I just thought about -- I don't think Spaten started marking ABV on their labels until this new marketing change. Makes me think any "info" previously was a stab in the dark.

**Heh -- and the Spaten web site has Optimator at 7.5 -- stabbing at the final gravity? Probably.

...I didn't drink enough of it in the past to judge a change in flavor like Optimator.

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As mentioned above, I was able to get the new and old label Franziskaner and drink them side-by-side (I even posted about it back then) -- only difference I may have been able to discern was a freshness issue -- which would make some sense with the newer labeled beer.

Once again, I remain skeptical until I see solid evidence... from the brewery, that is.

If I can obtain them fresh I really enjoy some German brewed Hefeweizen beers: Weihenstephan, Ayinger, ….

There are a number of very good American craft brewed Hefeweizens:

A number of very good US craft brewed Hefeweizen beers have been mentioned (e.g., Live Oak, Sierra Nevada, etc.). Below is a list of some of the other quality US craft brewed Hefeweizen beers that I posted in another thread:

I really enjoyed König Ludwig Weissbier, and Paulaner Hefe-Weißbier. Can't go wrong with Weihenstephaner, and I took a liking to Valentins Weissbier from Park. I always seemed to drink Hacker-Pschorr when in Garmisch. Never seemed to take a liking to Maisel's? But my go to hefe is without a doubt Franziskaner!

Weihenstephaner's Hefe.
But if I was going to pick something that was a better wheat beer, in this case a weizenbock, I would have to go with Weihenstephaner's Vitus. Tastes, looks, and smells just like their Hefe, only better.

ON TAP! I feel like all weiss and witt biers need to be on tap and as fresh as possible to be sublime!

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Sorry to tell you this, but traditionally, Hefeweizens are always served directly from the bottle; otherwise, you wouldn't get the Hefe in the Hefeweizen. If you get it from a tap, you loose the part that makes the beer style what it is. Have you ever seen how they do it at German brewers? They roll the bottle gently back and forth to mix up the Hefe within the beer. This would never work on-tap. In fact, it would taste really crappy, IMO.

A regular Weißbier or a Belgian Wittbier can be served on tap because it doesn't rely on the residual bottle-fermented yeast on the bottom of the bottle for it's taste.

For me it comes down to whether I want a really fruit-focused one, or one that’s a bit creamier/spicier. For fruity ones, the Weihenstephaner and Kloster Andechs versions are my faves. The ultra-common Hofbrau and Paulaner ones are fine, too.For the creamier, I love the one from Mahr’s. Schneider makes just about every type of weiss you can imagine and they’re all pretty good. Not really my cup of tea, palate-wise, but I know some people that swear theirs are far and away the best. They tend to be spicier.